Best movie of this year hands down!

Very disappointing...

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Interestingly enough I wasn't expecting much from the film, despite very positive reviews from critics. There was very little about the film I enjoyed, actually, except for Bradley Cooper's good looks. This was a freaked out, messed up film! These characters have so many issues, were I actually supposed to root for any of them? I couldn't care less about any of them - especially Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who was just downright annoying. Man, I absolutely HATED this character!!I know this was (probably) supposed to be a romantic film, but I didn't feel it. I literally couldn't wait for this to end, as I found it beyond boring. Is this the non-exciting, non-interesting, non-funny, non-romantic, non-ANYTHING, very annoying version of 'Shall we dance'?? I suppose this is what one would call a chick flick, coz it did absolutely nothing for me as a man. It didn't stir any of my senses, apart from wanting to hit the stop/eject button about a thousand times!

I have to say that every actor in this movie is brilliant, Cooper, Lawrence, Tucker, Weaver, and most noticeably De Niro. They all should have won some awards for their performances. The screenplay is fantastic, particularly in lines and jokes. The plot is a little bit predictable but still quite convincing. The standard four-act structure makes the movie rather accessible, even by the most common moviegoers, and that's why the film got a really high revenue.

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely adore Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. I really do believe that everyone involved in the making of this film portrayed the characters of this story as likable, captivating, and clearly unique from the typical romantic comedy characters. However, as you are hopefully beginning to realize, this does not mean that Silver Linings Playbook is a flawless depiction of individuals with mental illness. It's got a lot of issues, some more problematic than others. The film begins when Bradley Cooper's character, Pat, is released from a mental health facility and brought to live in his childhood home with his parents. Soon after his return, he meets Tiffany, a young woman struggling with an unnamed mental illness of her own, exacerbated by the tragic death of her husband. After a few comedic encounters, Tiffany convinces Pat to compete with her in a couples dance competition in exchange for her delivering a letter to Pat's estranged wife, Nikki. (The whole reason Pat ended up in the mental health facility is because he nearly beat a man to death after coming home to find him in the shower with Nikki. Following this episode, Pat is diagnosed with bipolar disorder.)I want to like the idea of these heavy subjects being dealt with in the context of a romantic comedy. However, the scenes in which Pat experiences manic episodes are disrespectfully comedic. The audience shouldn't feel the urge to laugh at a character's bipolar episode. So, there's problem number one. Then, there's the small fact that one of Pat's episodes is purposely caused by his own therapist! I was really rooting for Dr. Patel. He's a funny, Philadelphia Eagles-loving guy, but what kind of therapist purposely plays a song in the waiting room that is a trigger for his new patient?! While this leads to a breakdown that is very familiar to individuals who struggle with similar illnesses, it is a seriously concerning depiction of a mental health professional. (Later, he throws away any hope of regaining professionalism and gets drunk with Pat at a Philadelphia Eagles game...come on, Dr. Patel. Enough.)Some critics have complained that Pat's bipolar disorder is only represented in the form of manic episodes, while depressive episodes are noticeably absent from the story. Considering that some individuals with bipolar disorder experience very few depressive episodes throughout their lifetime, I find no issue with this. The movie takes place over the span of only a few months; it is perfectly reasonable that Pat does not experience a depressive episode during this time. It would be unfair to expect a single film to portray every aspect of a complicated illness that manifests itself differently in every individual.That said, this film sends a clear message that I find decidedly troubling. As Pat falls in love with Tiffany, many of the symptoms of his bipolar disorder magically disappear. She is able to remove the triggering effects of his wedding song by just whispering a few words of comfort. She somehow counteracts his obsession with Nikki to the extent that he doesn't even care that she lied about the whole letter-writing charade. The audience has no reason to believe that he suddenly started taking his medications, considering he even avoided taking them at the mental health facility. Yet somehow, his symptoms seem to disappear. While there is certainly research to support the idea that being in love improves symptoms of some mental illnesses, this film takes it a bit too far. Love can not cure Pat's bipolar disorder or Tiffany's depression. In order to fit the typical mold of the romantic comedy, Pat's very serious mental illness is trivialized. The end of the film suggests that his struggles have magically disappeared purely because Tiffany loves him. It sounds too good to be true, and it is.Perhaps unintentionally, this film supports the narrative that mental illness can be fixed by an improvement of external circumstances. While external factors absolutely play a role in the manifestation of mental illness, a single change in relationship status is not a mystical cure-all. We can celebrate all of the things that Silver Linings Playbook does well, but it's still far from ideal.

This movie SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is there a no star rating?